06/13/2012
Harbor Neighborhood News...
OCEANSIDE: Fuss brewing over harbor slip transfers
A Harbor Patrol boat goes past docks as an egret, upper left, flies in the foreground at the Oceaside Harbor on May 24. HAYNE PALMOUR IV | [email protected]
4 hours ago • By RAY HUARD [email protected]
Oceanside harbor officials are considering a policy change that some boaters say could make their boats worth less money.
At issue is the city's practice of allowing boat owners to transfer their dock slip leases when they sell their vessels.
City officials say the change would make it fairer for people who spend years waiting for slips in the busy harbor to open up.
Boaters who have dock space in the harbor say if they can't transfer slip leases they'll have trouble when they go to sell their boats because new owners would have to find a place to keep them.
Harbor and Beaches Director Frank Quan said that from the city's perspective, "It would just be cleaning up something people are taking advantage of."
Dock slips are parking spaces for boats and it can take up to 10 years on a waiting list to get one in Oceanside.
To get around the waiting list, someone can buy a boat that's already in the harbor and the slip where it's kept comes with the boat. Even if they replace the boat with a new one, the slip is theirs to lease with no waiting.
"You're stretching the rules, but you're not breaking the rules" Quan said. "You're using our policy."
The problem is that the policy can be seen as unfair to those on the waiting list, Quan said.
The problem for boaters who already lease a slip in the harbor is that their boats will be worth less if they can't transfer the slip lease, said Liz Rhea, a member of the city Harbor & Beaches Advisory Committee.
"It's a very tricky situation because it's been going on for so long that the slips go with the boats when they sell," Rhea said. "I don't know how you could do it (change the policy) without getting the whole harbor in an uproar."
Committee member Jim Jenkins, a boat broker who also has a boat in the harbor, said just the talk of changing the policy has boat owners jittery with some putting their boats on the market before the policy can be changed.
"People are going to start bailing out. We've got people left and right starting to come over and talk about listing their boat and selling them," said Jenkins, owner of Oside Yachts. "I've picked up five more listings in the last two weeks. It's going to spread like a virus."
Worst case, Oceanside could be left with a lot of vacant boat slips instead of a waiting list, Jenkins said.
As of June 1, the harbor had a waiting list of 69, Quan said. The harbor has 950 slips.
The bigger the boat, the longer it takes to get a slip for someone on the waiting list, Quan said.
To stay on the list, someone must pay an annual fee of $90.
When a boat is sold, it must pass inspection to prove it's seaworthy. The buyer also must pay a transfer fee based on the size of the boat or the slip. The fee is$20 per foot of boat or slip, whichever is greater, Quan said.
Jenkins said he sees no need to change the policy to shorten the waiting list.
People on the list "have the same opportunity as anyone else" to buy a boat that's in the harbor and get the slip with it.
"It's not like one person has it better than the other. They all have it the same," Jenkins said. "They have the same ability to come down and buy a boat and they could be off the list tomorrow."
Rhea, who last year sold a boat she had in the harbor, said she can see both sides.
She said her boat would have been worth less without the lease transfer.
"That's how we got our slip, we bought the boat and we had it there for almost 13 years. That's how I sold my boat, we sold it with the slip," Rhea said. "It's hard to sell a boat without a slip."
On the other hand, Rhea said she understands that changing the policy would help those on the waiting list.
"There's a lot of work that has to be done on this one," Rhea said. "If it's going to be changed, it's going to have to be done gradually."
